Judy Pohronezny, 57, of Prairie du Chien, passed away at her home in Prairie du Chien on Aug. 12.

Judy Marie, the daughter of LeRoy and Patricia (Du Charme) Lenzendorf, was born Dec. 19, 1958 in Prairie du Chien. She graduated from Prairie du Chien High School in 1977 and then attended Capri College in Dubuque, Iowa. She later received an associate degree in accounting from W.C.T.C. in Pewaukee. Judy worked as a hairdresser for many years in Milwaukee. After receiving her degree, she worked as an accountant at Glass, Inc. in Sussex. First and foremost, Judy considered herself a homemaker. Raising her family was very important to her.

James “Bud” McCarthy, 86, of Milton, died on Wednesday, Aug. 10, at home.

He was born in Wauzeka, on Nov. 1, 1929, the son of James N. and Elsie (Lathrop) McCarthy. He served in the U.S. Navy and married Dorothy H. Rau on Oct. 19, 1951. She preceded him in death on Aug. 11, 2000. James was a member of the Wauzeka American Legion, UAW Local 95, and a former member of the Loyal Order of Moose. He was a great story teller, loved to hunt and fish, he enjoyed farming, and spending time with family and friends.

Jim was born on Feb. 14, 1962 to Archie and Evelyn (Lee) Hatlan. He was baptized and confirmed at the Hauge Lutheran Church. Jim graduated from Seneca High School. He was united in marriage to Tracy Brodhead and they had two kids and later divorced. After his divorce Jim met Barb Czarnik and they spent 20 years together.

Mary M. Konichek, 81, of Prairie du Chien, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 9, at her home surrounded by her family.

She was born Feb. 16, 1935 in Grant County, the daughter of Albert and Mildred (Wiest) Ertz. She married William “Zeke” Konichek on Nov. 10, 1956. He preceded her in death on their 32nd wedding anniversary in 1988. Mary worked for Wisconsin Power and Light and later for the Prairie du Chien Public Schools for 26 years until her retirement. She was an avid golfer and bridge player. Mary was a talented seamstress and enjoyed volunteer work; she had a “servant’s heart.”

Virginia Aberle, 29, of Chicago, Ill., went missing Aug. 3 during an early morning swim at the Wyalusing Beach. (Submitted photo)

By Kate Bowen

Early Wednesday morning, Aug. 3, our beloved friend Virginia Aberle went missing on the Mississippi River. She was an experienced camper on a canoe and camping trip with friends from Chicago. She was last seen on a dock at Wyalusing Beach around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

Her fellow campers immediately notified authorities, who were on the scene by 3 a.m. A massive search and rescue effort was coordinated by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, which entailed hundreds of volunteers from over 30 local emergency organizations and fire departments searching both water and land.

Did you know...
The Music Fights Back Foundation logo, designed by Kaci George was inspired by the movie “Fight Club?”

Jeremy Cuff (right) and Julie Simon (left) help Shaun Mohs fight back with a new iPod. Shaun, 9, is currently working through his second battle with a brain tumor, but with the support of the MFL MarMac community. (Photo submitted)

By Caitlin Bittner

On Aug. 27, a gauntlet will be thrown and a battle will begin. From noon to midnight, music will throw a few punches in cancer’s direction thanks to Jeremy Cuff and the Music Fights Back Foundation.
“It started because I had cancer in 2014. I was kind of down in the dumps, and one of the things I would do on the way to treatment was listen to music,” said Cuff. “During that time, I had a lot of people who supported me. This is my way of giving back. And, me being a musician, I wanted to take music and use it to help people.”

Last year, during the first Music Fights Back event, the group was hoping to raise enough money to donate 10 to 12 iPods to people with cancer. But, due to overwhelming support, the organization was able to raise enough money to purchase and give away 20 iPods.

On Monday, Aug. 8, at 8:49 a.m., the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department was notified of an accident in Seneca Township on Highway 171 approximately .7 miles east of Stoney Point Road.

A 1999 Nissan owned and operated by Haley Dougherty, 28, of La Crosse, was eastbound.

A 2008 Ford F350, pulling an air compressor, owned by the Crawford County Highway Department and operated by county employee Michelle Jones, 48, Mount Sterling, was also eastbound. Jones activated her amber warning lights and stopped to place cautionary traffic warning signs along the highway. Jones saw the approaching Dougherty vehicle and waited in her truck cab for the vehicle to pass. However, the Dougherty vehicle rear ended the county truck and trailer.

The crash’s impact spun the Dougherty vehicle around and it came to rest about 35 feet past the highway department truck, facing west in the westbound lane.

There were no big surprises in Wisconsin’s Primary Election Tuesday, Aug. 9, and Crawford County tended to follow along with state trends in voting.

On the Democratic side, Congressman Ron Kind slid through to the November ballot with 851 votes from Crawford County electors, though his challenger Myron Buchholz garnered a respectable 169 votes.

In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Ron Johnson and former Senator Russ Feingold moved ahead toward a familiar battle in November’s General Election. Unopposed Republican Johnson received 497 votes in Crawford County. The Democrats cast 915 votes for Feingold, while his challenger Scott Harbach recorded 62.

Prospective University of Wisconsin-Platteville (UW-P) students and their families might be interested to know that the university has made a request as part of the proposed UW System Budget for two major construction projects to improve their engineering and biology programs.